Review by Booklist Review
Abigail loves to order her world via lists. It is through these concise and airy enumerations that readers learn of the tribulations of her sixth-grade year: (1) she is in a different homeroom than her besties; (2) she is paired with the school's biggest loser, Gabby, for a language arts project; and (3) her dreams of being a pom-pom girl are not going according to plan. When at last her pom-pom popularity seems to be sealed, she finds out it's not what it seems. Appearances can be deceiving, and true friends might be the ones who are there for you no matter what. Could Gabby be that friend? Cavanaugh creates a layered and interesting character in Gabby, the resilient girl everyone loves to pick on. And Abigail has depths she herself hasn't considered. Will she do the right thing or cave in to fickle middle-school cliques? Just the right amount of lightness and pathos will hook readers looking for something (a) engaging and (b) just a little bit different.--Cruze, Karen Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In a format akin to that of her debut, This Journal Belongs to Ratchet, Cavanaugh offers an accessible and insightful coming-of-age story told primarily through lists and letters, and embellished with doodles. Abigail and her best friends Alli and Cami are starting sixth grade with the goal of fulfilling a lifelong dream: becoming pom-pom girls. But Alli and Cami wind up in a different homeroom than Abigail, and while they both make the pom-pom squad, Abigail is named an alternate. Further compromising her social standing, Abigail is paired up with school pariah Gabby for a writing assignment. Seasoned readers may foresee Abigail's journey to choosing real friendship with Gabby over the lure of popularity, but the story holds a few unexpected turns, as well as a strong sense of the emotional, physical, psychological, and moral growth that often accompany the middle-school years. Cavanagh builds the relationship between Gabby and Abigail with a tender and knowing touch, allowing funny moments to rest alongside cringe-worthy ones. Ages 9-12. Agent: Holly Root, Waxman Leavell Literary Agency. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-7-Abigail Walters is starting sixth grade, and this is her year. She and her lifelong best friends, Alli and Cami, have been practicing for pom-pom squad tryouts for months, and when they all become poms, it will open the doors to popularity. Unfortunately for Abigail, the year starts with a hitch when she is assigned to a different homeroom than AlliCam, as she calls them, and things go from bad to worse when she gets paired up with the school's biggest outcast, Gabby Marco, for a letter-writing project. Then, worst of all, Abigail doesn't make the squad. As the year carries on, Abigail becomes more estranged from AlliCam, and to her surprise, she starts to form a friendship with Gabby. When she has the chance to be a pom-pom girl after all, she's forced to decide which is more important: her newfound popularity or standing up for what she knows is right. Written in short lists, letters, notes, and journal entries, the novel's mixed-media format will appeal to reluctant readers, and Abigail's voice rings true. What's more, her conflicting emotions about the friendships in her life resonate. The story is honest without being preachy, and many middle school readers will relate to Abigail's struggle to balance social pressures with her own moral compass.-Lauren Strohecker, McKinley Elementary School, Abington School District, PA (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A sixth-grade girl has to decide between friendship and popularity.Winning a coveted place on the middle school pompom squad means popularity, cool guys and schoolwide fame. To list-loving protagonist Abigail, who narrates the story in the first person in a list format, it means the world. But, unlike Abigail's two barely differentiated best friends, Alli and Cami, Abigail only makes alternate. Worse, Gabby Marco, "the number one outcast at Crestdale Heights," is assigned to be Abigail's partner for the friendly-letter assignment. Slowly, grudgingly, Abigail comes to both like and admire Gabby, and together, the two of them volunteer to read stories to kindergarteners, which they both enjoy. But after a bit of luck secures Abigail a permanent spot as a pompom girl, she has to decide if Gabby's low position on the school totem pole makes friendship tenable. Gabby, though eccentric, is portrayed as all good, while the pompom girls don't have an ounce of kindness or compassion among them. And unrealistically, Abigail's choice is set up as a binary choice between pompom girl and everything it represents or Gabby and the kindergarteners, with no flexibility to move between worlds.Nonetheless, this kind of dilemma is very pertinent for middle school girls, and Cavanaugh largely handles it with tact and sensitivity, taking her heroine on a psychological journey from superficial to thoughtful. (Fiction. 9-13) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
